Tay Kewei – Singapore’s Newest Star.

Wowee! FOR ME??? Freaking exciting! Whaaat.. can you blame me? This housewife here in NZ gets like ONE mail every 2 months.. if I’m lucky.. and that’s usually a brochure for some supermarket promotion. Getting a parcel from overseas and one that’s not for an ebay purchase is like getting a surprise birthday present!

I met up with this young lady a month ago and had the chance to know her personally. She shared with me her life story, and told me how she worked hard to score the opportunity to be backing vocals for concert tours for David Tao, Wang Lee Hom, A*Mei and JJ Lin.

She said her first solo album would be released in September. I was touched by how open, sincere and down to earth she was, and promised to buy her album when I come back to Singapore the next time. But she said she would send it to me instead!

And so, here it is.. the album is due to be released in the stores tomorrow (8 Sep 2010) and I have the privilege to listen to it first! =)

Now here’s the part where the initial excitement from receiving the package wore off and I started to worry.

WHAT IF I HATED IT?

She’s a newbie after all, and this was her first album. First albums are supposed to be a trial effort, aren’t they? If I hated the album, I would be super paiseh, wouldn’t I? I don’t like to write obligatory reviews. And it’s even worse if I don’t write at all, that would be showing no support for a fellow Singaporean, right?

So I stuck the CD into my MacBook Pro. Took out my stylo-mylo Bang & Olufsen Earphones (gift from hubby, hee!) and listened to it. *fingers crossed*

And guess what?

I LOVED IT.

It is a very nice bundle of soothing ballads, a little R&B, a little Norah Jones-ish.. Very well put together. Total 14 tracks. 9 English, 3 Chinese and 1 Japanese.

The album has certainly exceeded my expectations. I cannot imagine the amount of effort that has been put in, considering that Kewei had written 5 of the tracks herself. Is she freaking talented or what?!

There’s a Japanese track called “Friends”. The original song was performed by the Japanese band, Anzen Chitai and I had practically grown up listening to it! It was a wave of nostalgia. Especially when she also did a rendition of the famous track “Somebody” by Depeche Mode. I had survived my junior college days with that song!

I love those two tracks, plus “Plastic Mannequin” and “Come Closer”, and the Chinese tracks.

Here’s one of the tracks in the album to give you a glimpse of what she sounds like. Most people prefer Kewei singing English songs, but I like her doing Chinese songs more! Especially this one. Kewei wrote this too.

This album will be released in major music stores in Singapore tomorrow (8 September 2010), and online at Sense Music Store with free shipping. Check it out, folks.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated to Tay Kewei or her managing company. I’m just a weird, geeky housewife who has enjoyed the music and believes in supporting local young talent. So jump on the wagon, support local talent!